Friends
by sollyinpurplepants
Summary: Two tugs reflect on their friendship after a busy day of work.


**I've been super swamped with school and writer's block, which is why I haven't written anything these past few months. But fear not, I have written a thing!**

**It's a short little story exploring hcs some friends and I have about Hercules and Top Hat. They were friends for a few years, and became rather close. However, they drifted apart due to Herc being a naval tug (a hc common among older gen tugs fans *and tv tropes*). Enjoy!**

Top Hat was at the Star Tugs' home dock, glancing at the vehicles racing at the road on the suspension bridge. Evenings like this were always peaceful, and he couldn't help but relax. He shut his eyes and tried to savor the moment, but it was rudely interrupted with the whistles from the other Star Tugs. He whined and slowly turned his wheelhouse to see that Ten Cents, Sunshine, and OJ arrived first, followed by Big Mac and Warrior.

"Are you doing alright Top Hat?" OJ asked, noticing that something wasn't right with the railway tug. "You look a little tired."

Top Hat nodded before adding, "I'm not sleepy, I was just trying to relax after a hard day's work. Being a daytime tug does have its perks you know."

"If you rush too much, you might end up like the Zeds!" Ten Cents teased. Sunshine tried to stifle his laughter, as did the other Star Tugs.

Top Hat rolled his eyes, knowing that it was unwise to try and make a counterargument. A few minutes later, the Star Tugs started to share stories from what happened during the day. Top Hat tried to listen in, but he felt it was very… ordinary. He could hear another tug steam in and noticed that Hercules had just arrived. Instinctively, he began to move forward to offer room for the larger tug.

Hercules turned to see what was happening, but he sighed and turned to face Top Hat. While it was nice to share his stories, he could perhaps save them for another time. "Did I miss anything too important?" He asked, trying to be polite.

Top Hat shook his head and replied with, "Ten Cents and Sunshine are telling the others what happened with dredging. And how Zip and Zug made fools of themselves. They're always _trying_ to impress us, but the stories can be repetitive."

"We were their age once Top Hat." Hercules pointed out. "I don't blame them though, they're quite fascinated by the world around them. When something happens, they support each other." Then, he chuckled and added, "I won't admit it, but they do remind me of when we were both young and stupid."

Top Hat rolled his eyes and turned to notice how Ten Cents described something that they had found. However, memories began to play through his mind. "You know, I remember our younger years quite fondly." He started, motioning for the ocean tug to join him. "Before you joined the Navy of course."

Hercules chuckled and eased forward to join the railway tug. "Ah yes, we were quite the pair." He said, becoming much more relaxed. "Always getting into adventures, no matter how _dangerous_ they were."

"I will admit, it was quite thrilling." Top Hat pointed out. "Do you remember that time when you had to help me with carrying parts for that new liner that was being built?"

"It was not my fault we got lost." Hercules said, feigning annoyance. A few seconds later, he corrected himself with, "Well, it was both of our faults. A miracle the builders or our owner didn't kill us."

"If it weren't for our stupidity, the builders would not have found that the liner had a design flaw." Top Hat added. "It took us nearly sinking the barge before we realized the parts were too small for those watertight doors."

Hercules smiled and shook his head, remembering how… reckless he was during his younger years. He was determined like Ten Cents but was much more willing to use his strength to get his point across. Plus, he was not afraid to intimidate anyone. "I swore Goliah and our old captain grew gray hairs because of that incident." He added.

"At least we didn't sink our work, unlike a certain harbor tug." Top Hat quietly remarked, turning to see Warrior make a few remarks. "I know we impressed some of the lady ships. Well, you helped me out most of the time. And then, we started to-"

"I know, I know." Hercules interrupted, not wanting to have the other tugs hear their conversation. He glanced at the wood jetty that separated the Star Dock from the Zero dock and added, "We don't want to corrupt everyone's ears m'dear, especially with the Zeds so close by."

Top Hat nodded, looking up to see that Ten Cents was starting to turn towards him. "Hercules do you think we should save our storytelling for another time?" He whispered, knowing that the switcher probably wanted in.

Hercules nodded, and soon the two tugs started discussing what had happened. Perhaps their feelings of nostalgia and relaxation would have to be continued another time.


End file.
